The Delhi Daredevils found themselves in a point of no return when they headed into their clash against the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad. Daredevils languished at the bottom of the points table and desperately needed a win to stay alive in the competition. With only 2 wins to their name prior to their match against the Sunrisers, the Delhi camp knew that all their remaining fixtures would be a do or die encounter for them.

Amidst this scenario, they took on the high flying Sunrisers Hyderabad at their home venue at Feroze Shah Kotla in Delhi. Skipper Karun Nair won the toss for them and the Delhi Daredevils opted to bowl first. The SRH batsmen lost the plot in the early overs despite having got a decent start from their openers. The top three batsmen got starts but none could score big. It was a classy unbeaten 70 off 41 balls from Yuvraj Singh that helped SRH post 185/3 in their 20 overs.

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In the run chase, Delhi had a decent beginning with skipper Karun Nair taking the attack right from the word go. Rishabh Pant chipped in with a cameo as well and so did Shreyas Iyer. But, the pivotal role was played by the overseas batsman Corey Anderson. Anderson top scored with an unbeaten 41 off 24 balls to ensure that Delhi were over the line with 6 wickets in hand.

Here are the Delhi Daredevils Player Ratings from the DD v SRH encounter:

Sanju Samson – 6/10

Sanju Samson made a decent start with the bat today. Coming into the game, he was the most successful batsmen from the Delhi camp. Among the lineup that had many inconsistent names in the season, the name of Samson stood among the rest. He put a 40-run stand for the opening wicket and gave a good start to the team. He perished after scoring 24 off 19 balls with 2 fours and a six to his name.

Karun Nair – 6.5/10

Karun Nair has been under the scrutiny this season. He had come into the tournament with a big reputation under his hat. However, the string of low scores did no justification to the immense batting talent that he possesses. Nair was due for a big score for quite some time now. The pressure only aggravated when he was named as the stand-in captain of the team in absence of regular skipper Zaheer Khan.

He played well on the day and showed positive intent from the very first over. He added 40 runs for the first wicket with Samson and then stitched a 32 run stand with Rishabh Pant for the second wicket. He was dismissed on 39 that came off 20 deliveries with 5 fours and a couple of sixes to his name.

Rishabh Pant – 7/10

Rishabh Pant is a proven hitter of the cricket ball. Over the last few games, a lot of cricket pundits remarked that the 19-year old hard-hitting batsman was due for his chances in the tournament. Albeit he was in the playing lineup for all the games, he never got a batting promotion to the top order.

In this particular game, he was promoted to bat at number 3 in the lineup. Pant scored a brilliant 34 that came off mere 20 deliveries. His knock was embellished with 4 fours and a six. The team management can definitely consider giving him an extended run at the number 3 slot in the coming fixtures as well.

Shreyas Iyer – 7/10

Barring Sanju Samson, the only other Delhi Daredevils batsman who has constantly scored runs this season has been Shreyas Iyer. Iyer has been getting those good starts to his name but has largely failed to convey them to match winning big scores.

He could not make his start count yet again in this fixture and perished after having set himself at the crease. However, he at least gave good resistance at the crease that helped the Delhi Daredevils score runs in the middle overs. Iyer ended up with a score of 33 that came off 25 balls with a four and two sixes to his name.

Corey Anderson – 8/10

New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson has been a big match player in the history of the IPL. The southpaw was at his best yet again when he came in to bat at number 5 in the run chase. When he walked in to bat, almost 80 odd runs were still needed to be chased with 56 balls in hand.

Anderson did well to take his time to settle at the crease before taking on the attack to the opposition bowlers. He timed the run chase to perfection. Anderson scored an unbeaten 41 off just 24 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes to his name.

Chris Morris – 5/10

Chris Morris provided the finishing touches in the Delhi Daredevils run chase with a little cameo to his name. He came towards the fag end of the run chase and ensured that he played the second fiddle to the set batsman Corey Anderson.

Morris hit a four and a six in his 7-ball unbeaten 15 to take Delhi over the line. Earlier in the game, he had an off time with the ball though. He failed to strike on the day and went wicketless. In the four overs that he bowled today, he gave away 36 runs at an economy of 9 per over.

Angelo Mathews – 2/10

Angelo Mathews was drafted in the Daredevils lineup at the expense of English batsman Sam Billings. Mathews showed his presence in the field with a couple of diving efforts to his name. His services were not needed in the game tonight. He was not given the ball during the Sunrisers Hyderabad innings. Later in the game, Angelo did not get his share of batting either. The top and middle-order of the Daredevils lineup were sufficient to wrap up the game for them on the night.

Mohammad Shami – 8/10

Team India’s premier pacer retained his place in the lineup in the game. Shami proved that he is indeed the one of the best bowling options available in the Indian cricket circuit. Shami bowled his full quota of 4 overs on the day and gave away 36 runs in his spell. He bagged two key wickets with the ball.

Shami took the big wicket of David Warner when a very well positioned yorker cleaned up the woodwork of Warner. Later in the game, he dismissed Kane Williamson too. On a day when wickets were hard to come by, Shami scalped two to earn the Player of the Match award.

Jayant Yadav – 6/10

Jayant Yadav was drafted in the playing eleven in place of Shahbaz Nadeem. Jayant was brought in the lineup keeping in mind the plethora of left-handed batsmen in the opposition lineup. Also, the off-spinner was expected to choke the run flow in the powerplay overs against the left-handed duo of Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner.

He did exactly that by not leaking runs in the powerplay. He bowled an economical spell on the day but went wicketless. He bowled his full quota of 4 overs and gave away 26 runs.

Kagiso Rabada – 1/10

Kagiso Rabada had a very rough time with the ball on the day. He was taken away for as many as 59 runs in his spell of four overs. With an economy rate of close to 15, Rabada certainly did not have a very good outing with the ball. Coming into the match, he was being tipped as the premier bowler in the Delhi Daredevils lineup. But the kind of bowling the spearhead came up with, left the Delhi camp disheartened.

Amit Mishra – 8/10

Amit Mishra continued to impress with his bowling this season. The veteran campaigner bowled exceptionally well to not only contain the runflow but also picked up the key wicket of Shikhar Dhawan. Mishra bowled his complete quota of four overs and was the most economical bowler on the day.

In the four overs that he bowled, he gave only 23 runs. It was his spell in the middle overs that put a brief brake on the runflow of the SRH camp in the match.